During the panel, Bryan Fuller explained that, “What the new series has to do is continue to be progressive, [to] push boundaries and tell stories in the legacy Gene Roddenberry promised, giving us hope for the future.” To further fan excitement, Fuller also confirmed that the new series will indeed be set in the Prime universe, however we have yet to discover exactly what era in which Discovery will be set.

From these comments, as well as the recent revelations that the new series will be one story told over 13 episodes, demonstrates (in my opinion), that Fuller ‘gets’ Star Trek. He recognizes the importance of Trek‘s legacy of optimism and the spirit of progressivism. He also seems to understand the format that the series needs to take on in order to move forward in today’s climate of television, and we know from his resumé that he knows how to put together good stories.

If the Discovery looks familiar, it’s because it appears that the design takes influence from Ralph McQuarrie‘s 70s-era illustrations for the Enterprise. McQuarrie put together the piece shown below, based off of an initial design from production designer, Sir Ken Adam, for the proposed Phase II series Star Trek: Planet of the Titans film, which ultimately became Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Watch the entirety of Comic-Con’s Star Trek 50 panel here. Star Trek: Discovery is set to debut January 2017.